# Brief Intervention Effective, Durable for Schizophrenia
Metacognitive training (MCT) is effective in reducing positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia, new research suggests.
MCT for psychosis is a brief intervention that “combines psychoeducation, cognitive bias modification, and strategy teaching but does not directly target psychosis symptoms.”
Results from a meta-analysis of 40 studies with more than 1800 total participants with schizophrenia showed that MCT was associated with reductions in positive symptoms, including auditory hallucinations and delusions, as well as negative symptoms, such as social withdrawal.
Additionally, MCT led to improvement in self-esteem and functioning, and all benefits were maintained up to 1 year post intervention.
“Our study demonstrates the effectiveness and durability of a brief, nonconfrontational intervention in the reduction of serious and debilitating symptoms of schizophrenia,” study investigator Danielle Penney, a doctoral candidate at the University of Montreal, Canada, told Medscape Medical News .
“Our results were observed in several treatment contexts and suggest that MCT can be successfully delivered by a variety of mental health practitioners [and] provide solid evidence to consider MCT in international treatment guidelines for schizophrenia spectrum disorders,” Penney said.
The findings were published online March 23 in JAMA Psychiatry.